Male and Female Brains

[shadowsofmypast]

Well, after a long debate with myself.
About how I think and how I stated on this message board
I think like a woman, due my many past lives
as a woman. I took two science related quizzes
About male female brains.
Both results the same Female Brain.cover face
In way I was sort of surprised, but in big way I understand
Why I am so sensitive and why women are very comfortable
with me. And all my internet friends are women.

 

[Totoro]

I get the same thing a lot when I used to try those things online too. I was a woman in my last life too and I think it was a rare occasion for me. I guess I mostly play the military types though.


After a long talk with myself, I realized I couldn't have one without the other, or at least in my case, that's what makes me me.

 

[SeaAndSky]

This is an interesting topic. Unfortunately, I have little time at the moment. All I can do in the short run is introduce the writings and theories of Simon Baron-Cohen, which are making waves and were deemed too controversial for publication a few years back. They are still the subject of much hostility among more radical feminists and the politically correct, but seem to be at the cutting edge of current research and understanding of sexual differences. Here is a quick introduction:


http://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/may/17/featuresreviews.guardianreview6


Here are some Wikipedia articles:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Baron-Cohen


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathizing%E2%80%93systemizing_theory


This also has a lot to do with questions re Aspergers and Autism, which are not threads on the board I have previously delved into. So, his theories may have been discussed there already.


Cordially,


S&S

 

[Ender27]

That's interesting. I do not remember many female PLs, just one little girl killed by Tatarians and one Italian woman, but I don't know much about her. I spent last four hundred years as men. And now it's difficult for me to think about myself as a 17-year-old girl. I'm a soldier, a man, a man. That can be the reason of my sex-identity problem.


So your female nature can come from your PLs' histories. You could be a sensitive, loving mother

 

[spacecase0]

I have thought about this quite a bit,


I suspect that I might be unhappy as either gender at this point


if it is some brain genetics causing the mismatch then that means that next life might be just fine,


if it is my spirit, then I guess I have to fix something in me, and that seems much much harder and would potentially take many lifetimes


I have seen no clear data or past life stories either way,


does anyone know of one that would show what the answer might be ?

 

[Batgeek22]

I can only speak for myself in regards to this subject. In my immediate past life I was female in the one before that one I was male. In my current life I'm male. Recently, as I've begun to explore, I've caught glimpses of other lives as both male and female. I don't identify with either gender. That is to say my gender doesn't define me, who I am. In my opinion people place to much emphasis on gender. For that matter people put to much emphasis on race, religion, and vast number of other things. We are far more than any of this, beyond it. I often feel I'm the only one that sees it this way as I watch everyone else fret over these things. From the glimpses I've gotten of the place in between I understand we are creatures of light. Gender is just an avenue to be able to experience different things. It's akin to putting on a costume. It holds, for me anyway, no more importance than that.

 

[Mere Dreamer]

Gender is just an avenue to be able to experience different things. It's akin to putting on a costume. It holds, for me anyway, no more importance than that.

I feel the same way, Batgeek. Socially speaking, I sometimes have problems with my gender because people expect certain things of me as a woman that they would not expect if I were a man. However, this problem isn't exclusive to gender, but involves everything from skin color and religion to my natural body structure's similarity to cultural standards and my ability to eat (or not - allergies, etc.) according to cultural norms without negative physical effects.


In other words, culture tends to want everything to fit into the standard sized gaps that are pre-designated with certain expectations. Male/female "roles" being so common that people can't even comprehend that these expectations actually mark cultural definitions and training, and are not universal common sense.


For anyone who is unaware of how culture corrals their minds, the tendency is to create barriers and reactions (often unknowingly) meant to drive people back to an assumed "common" perception of "normal" where cognitive dissonance won't create friction in the mind of the observer. Whether their idea is gender based or otherwise, the reactions can be mild to controlling or even abusive depending on how much power that individual thinks they should have over their surroundings.


Within a cultural flow, exceptions make waves. They cause turmoil. Culture doesn't really care whether it's a valid, reasonable alternative to the "normal", because culture as a whole isn't a rational being who can be conversed with. It is like water, and can only be channeled with well-thought-out, sturdy effort and directed by widely saturated information within the culture as a whole to redirect or reform common beliefs.


People who get caught in a "flash flood" of cultural reaction to their differences get tossed, broken up, and rolled over and over, until they wash up somewhere that the culture can't reach them (internally or externally). They often end up labeled dysfunctional or crazy by the "group mindset" unless they happen to stumble into an alternate cultural channel that is more welcoming of their differences.


While male and female brains do have physical and chemical differences, as do bodies (though even this gets technically confusing in the overlapping center of the spectrum) I think that culture has far more to do with the social patterns around gender than actual physical conditions.


My goal as a life coach is to help people recognize the flash-floods of culture they get caught in (as actually being cultural, not measures of their worth) and to help them realize that they have options that do not involve becoming "less of an obstacle" by changing themselves according to expectation. They can, in fact, swim for shore or learn to surf that wave without being pulled under and continually damaged by it. Or at least that's the hope.


Doing it myself, first, is the challenging bit. Thankfully culture is already shifting in the US when it comes to male-female social expectations.


I hope that permeating culture with more "wide spaces where the turbulence can settle" will help people be more fully themselves earlier in life. I'd like to see what our world would look like with fewer culture-molded individuals, bound and limited by society, and more unique, one-of-a-kind types who live the fullest expression of their capacity.

 

[Batgeek22]

Societal expectations in relation to culture, gender, race, religion, and so on I view as rules to a game. I view much of life that way, a game. Play by the rules and things go smoothly for you, don't and things get rough. In the end though it is still a game. What shocks me on a daily basis is how serious people take the Game of Life and their assigned roles. People loose sight of the purpose of the game, the goal of the game. That purpose to experience life to the fullest in whatever role you've been dealt. To make the most of that role and have a good time.

 

[John Tat]

It continues to intrigue me that all of you, who different to me believe your spiritual pure self/and or soul whatever you want to call yourself is genderless are all so hung up on physical gender


It appears many of you are obsessed by your physical gender


Many of you are not comfortable or happy with your physical gender


Why is there this obsession and conflict with and about physical gender?


Many of you talk as though you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. At best many of you are conflicted by that. Many seem to query that.


In my opinion many of you are conflicted and confused because you really do believe you have lived physical lives as both genders


That's enough to conflict and confuse the most stable of humans


I know you will not like this but my source has told me many many times you are all wrong. That the pure spiritual you does have gender and unless there is some error in the reincarnation process you will reincarnate into the same gender physical body every time


Those memories of different gender incarnations as I have said before are not yours. They have been shared with you by other spirits/ pure self's


It is all about a continuing education process. For example you do not have to travel to the moon to understand what it's like. You can read about it or watch a documentary about it. That's what and how shared life memories work


It is this self inflicted conflict between your spiritual gender and your physical beliefs and concepts about what is really going on that causes you all of this conflict and confusion about your physical gender

 

[spacecase0]

I tend to think that pure spirit has gender as well, or at least a preference


people seem to keep personality after they pass on,


why would you loose only gender

 

[Eowyn]

John Tat, I would have a serious conversation with "your source", as what he says contradicts the accounts of thousands of people all over the world.


I do remember a whole lot of lives, both male and female. I do not have any kind of conflict being a man and then a woman, no matter which my preferences are. Furthermore, I really love I can live as both genders, as undoubtedly being a woman can be a nightmare sometimes, but also it's quite safe in certain circumstances. I don't believe my memories as a man (as now I am a woman) have been "shared" by another spirits, they feel as real as my female memories. Now, you can say there is no reason I would feel them differently, and probably I'm just convinced I've been a man. But couldn't it be it is you who just can't accept the idea you've probably been a woman in the past?

It is all about a continuing education process. For example you do not have to travel to the moon to understand what it's like. You can read about it or watch a documentary about it. That's what and how shared life memories work

This is completely false. Believe me, you can't know what maternity is until you have given birth to your own children. Not even a past life memory is enough to know what that is (and I can tell the difference as I don't have children in this life). EXPERIENCE is the only way to understand what is like.

It is this self inflicted conflict between your spiritual gender and your physical beliefs and concepts about what is really going on that causes you all of this conflict and confusion about your physical gender

No, probably there are other reasons that cause that conflict. Possibly one of the most important is the existence of useless gender roles we still have in this society. When those roles disappear and everyone can behave as they wish, regardless of what they are expected to do, things will turn for the better. And that doesn't mean I will act according to my "spiritual gender" (my spirit has no gender, IMO), but according to my state of mind and what I prefer to do. The same way I may like travelling in one life, and remain peacefully at home in the next, I might like to do more "masculine things" in one, like being a truck driver, in one life, and do more "feminine things" in the next, like staying at home sewing my partner's socks. I don't see anything wrong with it, and if someone has a conflict with that I don't think it has necessarily anything to do with their "spiritual gender", but just with their "spiritual personality" and the difficulty to adapt to those different human roles.

 

[John Tat]

Eowyn


It's interesting you would talk about the maternal bond between a mother and her child. This indicates to me that you have never lived the physical life of a man. Many if not most men have a very strong bond with their children, which could also be referred to as some form of maternal bond. Over my lifetime I have in fact witnessed many situations where the bond between the child and father is far stronger than that between the child and mother. You have obviously never experienced that in any of your incarnations


Those who believe in a genderless spiritual pure self/soul are by far the minority.


You would have to convince those who believe in the spiritual world that their spirits go there genderless.


You would have to convince Christians that their souls go to heaven genderless.


You would have to convince Christians that those who go to hell go there genderless


You would have to convince the hundreds of millions of people who contact/talk to those who have passed that their mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles and friends are all genderless when the talk to/contact them


The reality is those who believe in a genderless spiritual pure self/soul are an extreme minority who's beliefs require them to have radical views on the afterlife and reincarnation


So yes, my source is correct when he says this relatively handful of people who believe in a genderless spiritual pure self/soul are wrong

 

[tanguerra]

... In my opinion many of you are conflicted and confused because you really do believe you have lived physical lives as both genders. .. I know you will not like this but my source has told me many many times you are all wrong. That the pure spiritual you does have gender and unless there is some error in the reincarnation process you will reincarnate into the same gender physical body every time..

Hi John,


On this forum we don't accuse people of imagining things or tell them they are wrong about their experiences. Whether you are quoting 'your source' or 'your opinion' the same rules apply.


A great many people on this forum recall having lives as more than one gender, including myself, and that's good enough for me. A few people feel a bit weird about it, or have a preference for being a gender other than their current one, and that's perfectly fine. A lot of others are at ease with changing genders from one life to the next, including myself. So, please try not to make general remarks about everyone but yourself being mistaken?

..The reality is those who believe in a genderless spiritual pure self/soul are an extreme minority who's beliefs require them to have radical views on the afterlife and reincarnation...

Please also refrain from making personal judgements on the experiences of others. It is not necessary or helpful.


thanks


T.

 

[deborah]

Hey Jon Tat


Hi,


Let's pause here.......

I know you will not like this but my source has told me many many times you are all wrong. That the pure spiritual you does have gender and unless there is some error in the reincarnation process you will reincarnate into the same gender physical body every time.

Let's look at other "sources"


American Indian circle of life. The Indian believes a man must look beyond the circle that is his life, because his life is the circle that never ends.


Remembering my past lives has helped me to understand myself on a much deeper level than I ever had before. The great Greek philosophers stressed that one of our greatest challenge‘s in life was to “Know They Self.”


Ancient civilizations placed great emphasis on enabling the soul to achieve self realization and to remember. Through ritual and initiation the priests and priestesses hoped to prepare the soul for it’s future. The Egyptian Book of the Dead, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, The Gnostic Initiations into the Inner Mysteries, and the Bhagavad-Gita are just a few.


So from my point of view - the goal is to be conscious creators in reality; to become more aware of self and others; and to embrace the opportunity to experience Joy, share Peace, express Love, with compassion and grace - from life time to life time. Even in the hardest of situations and no matter what gender.


About the reincarnation "Process"


IMO I agree.....- Reincarnation is not a thing, it isn't out there to be achieved. It is a process. However...each individual has a unique road to travel. When we begin to weigh and measure what is enlightenment, what is 100% awareness, what is atonement, and what is Nirvana - we become goal oriented - reaching for a means to an end.


I have been a man, and a woman...many times. I am clear on why, for me personally. My journey is unique to me - as yours is to you and everyone else here. I don't think we can put reincarnation in a box let alone put a lid on it. a115.gif


Good/bad, white/black, right/wrong, male/female....the dualities in life.


Ancient Egypt, my fav. I like what Lubicz wrote in his book called Sacred Science regarding Ancient Egyptian belief: in it he stated the following.

"Two ways that distinguish those who have renounced from those who remain subject to desire or must still taste the joys and sorrows of this life. Is it religion? No, it is more than faith: for some it is knowledge of the divine world-ordering WORD, (vibration) and this knowledge is also the sacred science.
For others it is an inevitable order: Believers or doubters, they suffer the consequences of all the causes generated by their actions. This is the undirected road, the most logical, sure, and comforting of laws; it leaves each one to judge for himself what he is, what he understands, and what are his hopes.


The path of Osiris is not imposed by anyone; it is the reality of Nature that dictates. From the moment a man is born on earth, he enters a cycle he cannot escape until the cause of disharmony, which he himself created, have been exhausted.


To believe or not to believe is one and the same for the natural course of the Osirian way. Be good, be just, be charitable, and the sooner you will reap ILLUMINATION. Be evil, be cruel, be egotistical, whether you believe or not, you will pay.

 

[tanguerra]

I tend to think that pure spirit has gender as well, or at least a preference
people seem to keep personality after they pass on,


why would you lose only gender

We did a survey a few years back, seeing how many people could recall lives in a different gender. I can't find it now. It may have been archived. It came out with some interesting results. Those who could recall more than one previous life, often said they had lives in a different gender, so it definitely happens. Some seemed to have a preference for one gender or the other. Some were roughly 50/50. It seems to be relatively individual.


Certainly I recall various lives as male and female in roughly 50/50 proportions. But I have memories of more than a dozen previous lives, dating back from childhood, which is a bit unusual. A lot of people just have a flash or two of the most recent life, so it's not easy to tell.


As to why? Who knows? It could be to do with bodies available at the time. It could be to do with what the soul group is up to, or what the individual wants to accomplish or experience. It might be chance. We don't really know the answers to a lot of these questions in any 'scientific' way. There aren't too many reliable 'stats' on this, although there are plenty of opinions.

 

[tanguerra]

Societal expectations in relation to culture, gender, race, religion, and so on I view as rules to a game. I view much of life that way, a game. Play by the rules and things go smoothly for you, don't and things get rough. In the end though it is still a game. What shocks me on a daily basis is how serious people take the Game of Life and their assigned roles. People loose sight of the purpose of the game, the goal of the game. That purpose to experience life to the fullest in whatever role you've been dealt. To make the most of that role and have a good time.

Yes, but maybe that's your game you're describing?


Maybe some people want to shake things up and break the rules, not just have an easy ride? I'm thinking about the 'Women's Libbers' and before them the Suffragettes, and before them many others, who were not prepared just to accept things the way they were?


Perhaps, experiencing a life with a certain amount of repression is something that people need to inspire them to do something about injustice? But, as always, it's horses for courses. Revolution and rebellion is not everyone's cup of tea, just as serenity and acceptance doesn't suit everyone?

 

[Batgeek22]

If you accept the premise that souls have a gender you must ask yourself a question. What is the purpose of gender? Gender is a aspect of the physical world needed for procreation. What purpose does it serve a being existing as pure energy, pure thought? It doesn't make much sense. This leads you to the next possible premise, souls have a gender premise. Souls lack gender, but when embodied prefer one gender over another. This would imply a personal preference. This I could accept. It lacks diversity, but if that's what you're into, ok.

 

[Nangijala]

So yes, my source is correct when he says ...

Hello John Tat,


I really wonder: What makes your source so absolutely trustworthy in your eyes?


Believe me, I have a very good reason for handing out this advice: You should take every "fact" from a spiritual source take with a grain of salt.


There are entities out there just making fun of gullible folks. And sometimes their real intents is not fun but pure viciousness. They try to confuse and in the end even to hurt you with their "wisdom".


So be careful and don't take every word from your source for an unchallengeable epiphany because this could end in a nasty surprise.

 

[Eowyn]

Eowyn
It's interesting you would talk about the maternal bond between a mother and her child. This indicates to me that you have never lived the physical life of a man. Many if not most men have a very strong bond with their children, which could also be referred to as some form of maternal bond. Over my lifetime I have in fact witnessed many situations where the bond between the child and father is far stronger than that between the child and mother. You have obviously never experienced that in any of your incarnations

Really? How can you know that? In fact, I've died many times as a man, thinking about the sons I was leaving behind, feeling just as sad as any woman would feel losing her children, so I think I do know what paternal bonds are. I can give you a few examples. In one life my two-year-old son was killed in front of my eyes and his mother's, and I can tell you I've never felt a similar pain, as I was unable to save their lives, despite how strong I was. Then I have memories from another life where I was very proud of what my son had become... and actually I keep having those paternal feelings for this past life son of mine who happens to be a woman this time around.


In fact, ever since childhood I've thought the love bond between a mother and her child was overrated (of course, as a woman, I've been always told that kind of love is the best in the world, and I always disagreed). Maybe it's because unconsciously I always knew love must be universal, including the love between a father and a son? And no, that knowledge doesn't come through imagining, it comes through experience.

Those who believe in a genderless spiritual pure self/soul are by far the minority.

Could you show me your statistics?

You would have to convince those who believe in the spiritual world that their spirits go there genderless.
You would have to convince Christians that their souls go to heaven genderless.


You would have to convince Christians that those who go to hell go there genderless

These people have beliefs. I have memories and verifications.

You would have to convince the hundreds of millions of people who contact/talk to those who have passed that their mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles and friends are all genderless when the talk to/contact them

This have an explanation. This kind of communications happen when the person has just died and is in the astral, so they're still attached to their most recent personality. Or, if they're alrealdy in the spiritual world, they adopt the appearance they had in their last life so we recognize them and not get scared. It's easy to interpret facts the way we want just to make them coincide with what one wants to believe.

 

[Mere Dreamer]

The reality is those who believe in a genderless spiritual pure self/soul are an extreme minority who's beliefs require them to have radical views on the afterlife and reincarnation


So yes, my source is correct when he says this relatively handful of people who believe in a genderless spiritual pure self/soul are wrong

This comment was a bit like dropping a mentos into soda, IMO.


We all know our own experiences. You know yours. I know mine. When you tell me what I have experienced, it feels very much like an imposition on my personal, internal space even when I say to myself, "Ah, John seems very certain about this. It's obviously not worth debating."


When you tell me your source is right and mine is wrong, I wonder how you can be so certain. They are both equally intangible and unprovable to anyone beyond ourselves. We are both within physical bodies and soaked through with beliefs and life experiences that could quite easily cloud our perceptions and reception.


We really don't even know if there are multiple cultures on the other side of the veil. Maybe in your group everyone sticks with the same gender. Maybe mine doesn't. I will let that remain an open question, because it doesn't need an answer here. I will know soon enough.


I cannot see myself as wiser or greater than anyone else in this life, and I don't believe anyone else is so much wiser and greater than I am as to give up control and definition of my own perceptions and experience to their interpretations.


I don't know why you have such a different understanding, or why you're so certain you can possibly know the answer for everyone else when even in this small, tangible world we cannot speak for others' experiences.


I know what I think of people in authority who attempt to proclaim they can define the limits of my personal experience of life because of their scientific or religious studies,... even those who are very educated and therefore certain of being right.


I simply think, "Well, apparently they haven't studied me yet."


I think those on the other side, even the ones we trust, may be equally capable of having studied a great many things without knowing everything. Maybe there are groups that study gender by different approaches. One by choosing variety, and another by submerging themselves completely in the experience of only one side of the equation and then discussing the differences with those of the other gender upon their return.


My conclusion is that you must have a very different "beyond the veil" experience than I do, and a very different series of life experiences, too. That's very interesting to me. It's fascinating to hear your perspective and to think through the implications of your conclusions.


I wonder how your gender plays into this perspective, and what deeper life meaning you have gained from it.


Why does it seem to frustrate you so much to see so many of us describe gender experiences that are quite different from yours? I really want to know. Does it change anything about this life?


I am a woman. It's quite fun, even when there are complications. Sometimes I observe the differences in expectations and think I would have very different problems if I were a man, but that is life. Everything we experience has its own benefits and complications. I don't need to be a man or even want to be a man in this life.


For some gender is more of a problem, and maybe the solution has more to do with changing culture than with being a different gender, but we really can't understand anyone from outside their experience. We can only do our best to respect that others know what they see and feel and believe better than we do.


This doesn't seem difficult to me. Male or female, every experience in life is unique even when there are a great many patterns and similarities.

 

[tanguerra]

If you accept the premise that souls have a gender you must ask yourself a question. What is the purpose of gender? Gender is a aspect of the physical world needed for procreation...

Indeed. Good point.... and in an attempt to gently move this discussion back to Shadows' original point about 'male and female "brains"...


Of course, we need the two sexes to make more bodies. Almost all creatures on Earth, including plants, work in much the same way. But 'gender' is something socially constructed for the large part. Male and female hormones are different of course, as is our physiology in a few key, important ways, again mostly all based around reproduction. But, individuals have all kinds of different combinations and expressions of these traits and, while some might be innate (whatever that means), a lot of those depend on culture.


Let's not forget the 'intersex' people who in various different ways don't fit into either male or female gender neatly. This is natural variation, which exists in most other species too, not just in humans. In many cultures this is just accepted and nobody bats an eyelid, although in Anglo/Western culture it is only recently gaining any kind of acceptance.


Other than that, men, women and 'other' aren't really all that different in any fundamental ways. We laugh when we are happy. We weep when we are sad. We get angry when we are frustrated or contradicted. We all long to love and be loved. I see no necessity for the human soul to have a 'gender' at all, although I know that some individuals seem to prefer to stick to one.


Even if your body is one 'gender' there is nothing to say that means you have to be caught up in some kind of play-acting about your true nature. Some men are soft and gentle and like pastel colours. Some women are tough and hard and hate wearing dresses. That's all fine. There is no need for 'rules' about this kind of thing, as there is no need for rules about a lot of things, although I understand the desire for rules and the sense of security they can bring to a life that is sometimes full of uncertainties.

 

[spacecase0]

my first memory in life is that of the gender of my brain and body not matching


I suspect that if it all matched that I would be ok with it,


I even found hormones that if I take them it fixes the issues (but I can't take them for unrelated medical reasons), so maybe my true spirit is not just damaged or split gendered


so it is likely just variations in physical brains


being in the "other" category in our culture is very hard.


I am pretty sure that an accepting society would not have helped me much, but it is not like I have ever experienced it...


I keep wondering if I am just feeling the body that I had in my last past life, or did I do something to break this body when I entered it, was it broken when I got here ?


the entire topic drives me nuts,


and as hard as I try, nothing lets me forget the problem


it seems to me that I will likely not get answers this life,


I just want to do whatever is needed to make sure that this mismatch never ever happens to me again, but I don't know how to do that if I don't know what the problem is.

 

[Mere Dreamer]

I am pretty sure that an accepting society would not have helped me much, but it is not like I have ever experienced it...
and as hard as I try, nothing lets me forget the problem


it seems to me that I will likely not get answers this life,


I just want to do whatever is needed to make sure that this mismatch never ever happens to me again, but I don't know how to do that if I don't know what the problem is.

That part about not thinking an accepting society would change the internal struggle is interesting. I will have to adjust my theory that most of the internal conflict between the male/female body/brain might be due to cultural pressure, since you know a lot more clearly than I could.


I'm sure it doesn't help to be frustrated culturally at every turn, though.


Chances are that if it's a physical thing then the body is the problem, not your spirit. According to the most common viewpoints I've found, you won't come back with the same physical difficulties every time, so preventing future incarnations with the same problem may not be an issue.

 

[spacecase0]

my body map is wrong (how you tell where any part of you is at any particular time, it is how you can touch your nose with your eyes closed in the dark and not mess up)


I feel the body of the other gender


it is enough to drive me nuts with no social pressure at all


the missing parts don't bother me as much as the extra ones


some of the hormones will make this vanish fast,


is something in my brain linking to a past life and some hormones block that ?


if I show up to the same family I might get the same physical problems again


pretty sure I did this once before ( porphyria, and that is why I can't take the hormones )


I guess my lesson here is not to do that again


but how does one not follow your loved ones back here

 

[Batgeek22]

Please do not take this as an attempt to sound like a smart@ss, but what does it feel like to be female, or male for that matter? Apart from the physical differences what is the differences in mind and spirit? I've never understood this reference. In the memories I do have of other lives the last I was female. The one before that I was male. In my current life I'm male. In another I'm an alien on another world, but I'll leave this one out for now. The one constant in all of these lives is my sense of self. I'm the same me at my spiritual core. I look at my body now and do not see it as something that defines me, but rather just something I wear for lack of a better word. To be honest I'm often bewildered by people's obsession with their physical appearance. Current events (Jenner) have me really confused. If I woke up tomorrow suddenly female, or other (inter-sexed) I would still be me. My physical appearance will never change this.

 

[tanguerra]

Please do not take this as an attempt to sound like a smart@ss, but what does it feel like to be female, or male for that matter?

Interesting question. Apart from the obvious culturally enforced differences, it's hard to say. There is something about being bigger and stronger as a man which is different I guess. I remember being more aggressive, more ambitious and more emotional, but in a different way, when being a man. It's hard even for me to tell if that is cultural or 'natural' though.


In the present life I am female, straight and a mother. I was female in at least two lives prior to that, but didn't have children in either of those lives for various reasons.


I don't mind dressing up for an occasion, painting my nails and wearing heels and all that, but I have always been a bit of a 'tom boy' deep down. I tend to be more forthright and less 'soft and cuddly' than a lot of other women. I don't know if this is due to previous lives spent as a man. I recall being 'softer' and more 'feminine' in the two most recent lives than now, but that might have been cultural conditioning? I grew up in the shadow of Germaine Greer after all.


I have always been quite brave physically. I ride a motor bike, and used to terrify my parents by doing all kinds of risky things when I was a little kid. Most of my friends are men, because I find women and their usual topics of conversation terribly dull and would rather watch an action movie or argue about politics than sit around talking about my feelings any day.


But at the same time, people describe me as being 'feminine'. I don't really understand what they mean by that myself, but obviously I don't come across as particularly 'butch' or anything. Inside I don't really feel any particular gender, but it doesn't bother me either way, so I'm lucky there.

 

[tanguerra]

if I show up to the same family I might get the same physical problems again ...I guess my lesson here is not to do that again but how does one not follow your loved ones back here

I'm not sure how it would relate to the family / soul group? Sure, people talk about sometimes having the same 'ailments' from one life to the next, or having a problem of some sort that is a remnant of a previous trauma.


I guess, like most of these kinds of things, if there is something you want to change about yourself, there is some work to be done on the issue?

 

[Ehrenbreitstein]

This is an interesting topic. Having been male and female I find there's some differences in identity. But part of me wonders how much of this is due to social constructs of gender and how much of it came from biology. I also wonder how PL genders relate to transgender people now. A lot of people who are transgender would argue that there is something occurring in the mind rather than outward and social constructs and that is why being in the body of a certain sex feels so wrong to them and taking on certain gender roles feels wrong to them.


I don't, however, think that these roles are necessary on the other side and do not believe that the soul needs gender, since it is a human social construct, or sex, since like others have mentioned, it relates to biology of procreation only. I believe the soul can chose to take on a certain appearance on the other side to those around them and when presenting to those still alive, but it does not seem necessary at all. In fact, I've only ever heard of one person who thinks that sex and gender are somehow coded into our soul. (I heard another person argue this about sexuality too). I have to wonder why someone would think this since all of the reading I have done would point to such things not mattering at all on the other side. It it some sort of discomfort at the switching of traditional gender roles? Does it tie into Judeo-Christian belief where God is a man and man came before and is superior to woman? If you accept that the soul has no gender than you would have to accept that the genders and sexes are equal. I think that would probably make certain people uncomfortable.

 

[spacecase0]

I'm not sure how it would relate to the family / soul group? Sure, people talk about sometimes having the same 'ailments' from one life to the next, or having a problem of some sort that is a remnant of a previous trauma.
I guess, like most of these kinds of things, if there is something you want to change about yourself, there is some work to be done on the issue?

it appears to be a genetic issue, so it can be passed down through the family


I have actually spent most of my life focused on spiritual work and alternative medical solutions looking for something to fix it (with little luck)


if there is something I need to work on, then I sure can't figure out what it is


I do not remember having the gender issues in previous lives,


so it does seem like it is just a non standard brain of some sort


but this is also the first life I have had with this gender in many many lifetimes


so maybe we build our brains as we grow up with all of what we are,


and our perception of our gender is one of the things that we hardwire the brain for ?

 

[KenJ]

I wonder what purpose gender would serve for the soul. The question of preference would, to me, ring of ego type reasons that would have no place in my understanding of the higher-self or soul.


Gender aspects of the various personalities that existed would of course remain, but their influence on the soul would be no more than the varied experiences that were need for the learning and understanding to take place. At least that is the understanding that I get from the things that I've read and what feels comfortable to me.